Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Saturday May 23, 2020

Local Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Saturday, May 23, 2020:

  • There have been 24,628 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 441 cases (or 1.8 per cent) from the previous day. There are 18,767 people recovered from the virus while 2,021 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 588,958 of which 5,516 have pending results.
  • Canada’s coronavirus case total is 82,480. The country has 6,250 deaths from the virus – 155 in British Columbia, 134 in Alberta, seven in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, 2,021 in Ontario, 3,865 in Quebec, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 58 in Nova Scotia.
  • There was no change in Eastern Ontario Health Unit coronavirus numbers Friday, except for the number of tests performed. Those went from 7,135 to 7,238, an increase of 103. There are 142 confirmed cases of which 81 are resolved: 15 in Cornwall (14 resolved), 22 in SD&G (20 resolved) and 105 in Prescott-Russell (47 resolved). There are three people in hospital, two of those are in ICU. There are three active outbreaks at long term care homes in Cornwall, Plantagenet and Maxville.
  • Residents at Maxville Manor are being retested and the confirmed case at the long term care home is getting better. Read that story by clicking here.
  • The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area added another two cases of coronavirus bringing the total to 338 confirmed cases. Deaths remain stable at 49. Seventy-nine per cent of COVID-19 cases (229) have recovered. For community cases in Leeds-Grenville, there are 21 in the central area (17 recovered), 12 in the west (10 recovered) and 11 in the east (seven recovered).
  • The Ontario government has announced a $10 million Ontario Tools Grant to help eligible apprentices get equipment to start their careers. The government is also forgiving $10 million in outstanding loans under a previous edition of the same program. At the same time, the government has also announced an online portal to help tourism and hospitality workers who’ve lost their jobs. It will offer online counselling and skills training.
  • The federal government will provide money to provinces to allow them to perform more testing and contact tracing for positive coronavirus cases. The country has the ability to test 60,000 people a day but it averaging about 28,000.
  • The pandemic served a big hit to the retail sector, now evident in the latest Statistics Canada retail sales numbers. Sales fell 10 per cent in March – the biggest monthly decline on record. The drop could be as high as 16 per cent for April but those numbers aren’t out yet.
  • New Brunswick residents can now get a haircut. The province has eased restrictions on barbers and hairstylists and is allowing people to form social bubbles of family and friends. The province has just over 120 cases and no deaths.

Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Cornwall Newswatch. Email editor@cornwallnewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.